Reprinted from Counsel, P.(1999) Object making and the Future, Craftwest, 2, 2-5 (and cover)
Cover: Craftiest, Vol.2, 1999. Graham Hay: Rite, 1200 pencils, 55 x 55 x 8 cm, 1998, photographer: Victor France
Object making & the future?
The work of Graham Hay and Katrina Merre
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If, as the rumours say the object was kidnapped from artistic discourse and practice, when exactly was it abducted? Was it with Dada?; was it with Duchamp?; was it with Fluxus?; was it with Art + Language? Though maybe pin-pointing a specific time and place, finding someone to blame isn't really relevant - indeed, maybe the object just took to the road in order to "find itself, man". What might be of import, however, is that in these increasingly virtual, increasingly de-materialised times its disappearance is experienced by many as a significant loss. With this in mind, Paul Counsel (oh so) gently coaxes its return by looking at two emerging ceramic Practitioners whose works are eloquent and critically engaged arguments in favour of maintaining a concern, and loving regard, for objecthood in general ... Witness the closure of many object- making departments throughout the country. Witness the folding of many well-known magazines that serve object makers. Witness the declining readership of many others. Witness the efforts of remaining institutions and magazines to stem the tide. Witness a crisis, a lack of confidence and a disconnectedness. Such is the world of contemporary object making. The importance and significance of object making in teaching and learning institutions is under attack. The central role objects have in engaging us in debate about who we are seems to be rapidly approaching its use by date. Its numbers and bottom line stuff these days. There is an increasing pressure to move away from the real, from making "things" or "objects". They are considered passe. There is a push to more temporal works of installation, process, time based practices and virtual reality. How will the virtual achieve what the real cannot? From the moment of birth we are thrust into a world of objects with which we must begin to make sense of our world. Through them we learn that we are different. Objects facilitate the learning of what is us and what is not. They provide external references to others. They become the recipients of our gaze, things to which we attach meaning. We see ourselves reflected in the objects we gather. They reveal narratives about who we are. We surround ourselves with objects that appeal and disregard those that do not. We learn concepts of beauty and taste, of culture and society, of shared experiences and modes of expression. We learn of social, cultural and economic relationships. In addition to our own objects, we learn to desire the objects of others. We learn to covet and possess, to protect and secure. We learn that objects speak of the human condition. So it is that two of Western Australia's emerging crafts practitioners Graham Hay and Katrina Merrells use their work to speak of the human condition. As makers they imbue their work with messages. As observers we decode and experience these messages. Unlike the ambiguous and obscure messages of many contemporary object makers, their messages are very clear. They've evolved through an unbroken process of articulation and making. Both Hay and Merrells have moved on from appropriation and re-presentation of the known to create new personalised statements that challenge, invite and reveal. While their work varies widely from each other in form, surface and content, there are a number of similarities in subject, material and in the ways they choose to express themselves. Both employ the use of clay to make objects and employ metaphor as their primary vehicle for the carriage of meaning. In creating visual metaphors Hay and Merrells tap into a powerful means of conveying messages. Successful metaphors are able to focus minds. Their use encourages observers to see things in fresh ways and awaken the questioning mind. Aristotle understood the power of metaphor claiming that, "the most important thing by far is to have a command of metaphor ... it's the only thing that cannot be learned and is a sign of natural genius ... to be good at metaphor is to perceive resemblances ... it gives clearness, charm and distinction to style ... metaphor is judged not only bits fit to the thing signified, but also by its sound or by the appeal it makes to the eye or some other sense"(1). Both makers open different windows to the exploration of sense of place in contemporary society and attempt to understand who they are in relation to present circumstance and rhetoric. From their own distinct perspectives, both reflect on the question of identity and the roles history and memory play in its construction. There's an intelligence in their work which subtly provokes, challenges and invites new understandings. Both examine aspects of the reality filtering processes of recorded history and attempt to make sense of their present. The power of their work is located in their ability to bring the past into the present. Their objects function as mnemonic devices, which elicit memories of real sites and practices. Through the use of materials, which arouse emotions and excite senses these memories are made stronger. Viewers are invited to move through and around their work to experience forms with sight and touch and explore a sense of space. Both Hay, with his use of ink, musty paper, bureaucracy and officialdom, and Merrells, with her use of earth, burning, corrosion and decay, consciously seek to engage the sense of smell. Through their work both practitioners are responding to a disconnectedness. Movement from an industrial age of tangible things and objects to an information age of virtual reality and cyber space has caused uncertainty. In a sense Hay and Merrells speak of loss. A loss of the real, a loss of connectedness and a loss of confidence between the past and the present from which the future must be fashioned. Born in 1963 of a Murri Aboriginal mother and a Malay-Chinese-British father, Merrells' work reflects her struggles to overcome the cultural and social difficulties she experienced as a child. It reflects her struggles to prove herself against the derogatory views of her white teachers. |
Graham Hay: Restrict, ceramic paperclay, 60 x 60 x 85 cm, 1998, Photographer: Victor France in Craftwest, 1999, 2, p.2
Katrina Merrells: Wounds 75 x 58 x 7 cm, ceramic, metal, rope 1998 Photo: Katrina Merrells in Craftwest, 1999, 2, p.4
Graham Hay: Record 60 x 60 x25 cm, compressed confidential legal documents, 1998 Photo: Victor France in Craftwest, 1999, 2, p.4
Merrells deals with loss and unfinished business. She invites us to share in her need for answers in understanding her past, her Aboriginality and society's understanding of its past. Merrells argues that there is a need to stitch the wounds and bed down the past lest we unravel the loose ends of society's fabric. There is a need to find answers. During her teenage years Merrells identified two goals. Success in terms of her own self-esteem was a university degree, the ultimate symbol of the blindness of her teachers. In addition Merrells wanted to develop a means of expression where she could articulate aspects of her Aboriginal history and the continuing struggle for recognition of, and reconciliation with, Aboriginal people. Both Hay and Merrells are able to puncture reality filtering processes and provide fresh ways of viewing contemporary myths. Mention the words paper clay to Graham Hay and his eyes light up with youthful exuberance. Hay's passionate about the stuff, it's his turf, he's at home, on his patch. Hay is a man on a mission, he and paper clay are going places. Hay speaks of the role of paper in our lives and challenges the notion of the paperless society. He emphasises the point that present rhetoric does not match reality and argues that the more we move into the "paperless" society, the more we are consumed by mountains of it. With our increasingly litigious society the buzz phrases for the nineties are "hard copy" and "have you got it in writing". Hay is meticulous in his attention to detail, preparation, planning and making. His research and knowledge allow him to succeed at reframing the way things are seen. Through their objects Hay and Merrells create new potentials, new dialogues and encourage new answers. Their work is full of energy, insight, strength and vitality. Like many young and talented makers they're adding their voices to the stemming of the tide and contributing to the re- energising of contemporary ceramic object making. In times of increasing uncertainty Hay and Merrells firmly locate their work in a corporeal world. Dr Paul Counsel was Coordinator of 3D Studies, Western Australian School of Performing Arts Edith Cowan University Note: Thompson, Peter. (1998). Persuading Aristotle: the timeless art of persuasion in business, negotiation and the media. Allen & Unwin: Sydney. |
Reprinted from Counsel, P.(1999) Object making and the Future, Craftwest, 2, 2-5 (and cover)
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